Store owner Lin Ming-wen has grown into a passionate proponent of traditional glove puppetry.
Lin Ming-wen (林銘文) became familiar with glove puppetry as a child while following his father, a musician in a traditional Chinese band, to temple fairs. In his early years, Lin was fascinated by the puppetry shows staged at the festivals, yet by the time he opened Holofang glove puppet store in Taipei City in 1997, he had come to view the small wooden figures as simply a type of merchandise.
The puppets sold at Holofang include everything from mass-produced souvenirs to handcrafted collector’s items, with prices ranging from NT$450 (US$14) to sums of up to NT$20,000 (US$630). Lin notes that for handmade puppets, the heads, costumes, hands, legs and accessories, such as hats and weapons, are typically made by different craftspeople. These parts are sent to Holofang for assembly, a critical process that dictates a puppet’s range of motion. The positioning of the legs, for example, determines whether a puppeteer can create naturalistic walking movements.
To show his customers how to manipulate the puppets, Lin picked up some techniques over the years from professional puppeteers. In the process, he became concerned about young people’s lack of interest in glove puppetry. Since business at Holofang remained steady, he decided to shift much of his focus to the preservation of the traditional performance art.
Over the past 15 years or so, Lin has staged numerous shows and promotional activities, as well as offered instruction to grade school puppetry troupes, in an effort to generate interest in the practice. His goal is to cultivate a new generation of audience members for traditional live glove puppetry shows.
—by Jim Hwang
Lin Ming-wen offers instruction during a class at the Holofang store in Taipei City.
Lin Min-hui produces costumes for glove puppets at her workshop in New Taipei City.
Crafting head decorations such as hats and hair is intricate work.
Lin Chao-yi carves heads for glove puppets at his workshop in New Taipei City. He is one of the few remaining craftspeople in the trade.
The heads, costumes and accessories for glove puppets are produced by different craftspeople and then sent to Holofang for assembly.
Traditional glove puppetry characters are usually based on descriptions from Chinese mythology and classics.
Handmade puppets designed by Lin Ming-wen
A Holofang-organized glove puppetry show at New Taipei City’s Sinpu Elementary School
Holofang’s outlet at the National Center for Traditional Arts in northeastern Taiwan’s Yilan County
A transparent glove for teaching the hand movements used to manipulate puppets
Students at New Taipei Municipal Haishan High School try their hand at glove puppetry.